Whew, that was close! Near-misses among planes rise, but it’s not why you think

A Southwest plane is loaded at the Phoenix, Arizona, airport as another takes off on Sept. 6. The FAA says close calls among aircraft in skies are more common than they thought, thanks to technological advances in reporting these incidents. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Whew, that was close! Near-misses among planes rise, but it’s not why you think

Documented close calls between aircraft in U.S. skies shot upward last year as the government switched on more automatic monitors to track the incidents, a new report says.Cases in which aircraft came closer together than U.S. Federal Aviation Administration rules allow rose to 4,394 in the year ending Sept. 30, 2012, from 1,895 the previous year, according to agency data released Thursday.The increase indicates there have been many more close calls in U.S. aviation than the FAA knew about when …